Auto Insurance Claims: WHETHER TO HIRE LAWYER, claims advice, claim help

Question
Hi Jane, I was passenger in a car that ran a stop sign on my college campus a year ago in the state of Washington. I had a concussion and partially tore my ACL. I am on a sports scholarship for track&field I have occurring problems with that knee even though I have been to physical therapy. My dad thinks I should just hire a accident lawyer because of the long term affects. I thought I would wait to see what the insurance company offered first. Is my dad right

Answer
Hi Erica,
Your dad is right.

Reality is, insurance companies will do what is best for them, not necessarily what is best for you.

In my opinion, you have too much to lose to risk an unfair settlement.  When hiring an attorney, make sure you check him/her out.  The attorney needs to specialize in insurance law.  Start by going to insurance attorney, or personal injury attorney websites for the name(s) of the attorneys in that firm.  Then go to your state bar to confirm that there are no bar complaints or issues with the attorneys in question.  And, of course, you can just run a basic search to determine the reliability of that particular attorney or firm.

Why don't you have your dad help!  

Hopes this helps, and good luck.